Interested in joining my group as a postdoc?
I do not have funding for postdocs at this time. However,
if you have your own funding,
I would be glad to talk with you if you have a PhD in
Computer Science and prior journal publications in
algorithm development in phylogenomics or multiple sequence
alignment.
The research projects for each postdoc will be focused on
producing new methods and software that can dramatically improve
accuracy on large datasets, and hence will
be used in biological data analysis.
This work also involves
proving theorems about the methods that we develop,
using probability theory to
predict performance under Markov models of evolution, but
then testing these predictions in simulation.
Research in my lab requires
strong skills in
algorithm design and analysis and
software development.
In addition,
excellent interpersonal skills,
oral and written communication skills,
and a passion for research are also necessary.
Your qualifications:
The ideal candidate
will have all the following attributes:
- PhD in Computer Science, Statistics, or related field (note:
PhDs in biology are not appropriate for my group except for
cases where first-authored publications are directly relevant
to algorithm design for phylogeny or multiple sequence alignment estimation)
- Strong programming skills in several
programming languages, such as Java, C/C++, Python, Perl
and R, and ability to learn others
- Experience in developing open-source software
and in implementing complex algorithms
- Experience in algorithm design and analysis,
and in proving theorems about algorithms, and
in implementing the algorithms and testing them on
simulated datasets
-
Experience in data analysis
and presentation
- Graduate courses in algorithm design
and analysis, graph theory, statistics, and probability theory.
- Publications on
algorithm development and implementation
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Ambition to do rigorous work with high impact
- Intention to continue as
a researcher, preferably as a faculty member
in a strong department
Note that experience in bioinformatics or knowledge of
biology is desirable but not necessary
(and can be learned while in the position).
If you fit these qualifications and wish to work with me,
please email me with:
- Your CV
- Copies of 2-5 of your publications
- Statement of interest (i.e., what your career goals are,
why this postdoc would be good for you, and when you would be able to
start). It would be helpful if you indicated which of my
recent papers are of greatest interest to you.
Please request letters from at least 3 people (your PhD advisor and two others), and have them sent directly to me.
You may also wish to apply for a postdoctoral position
through the
Faculty Fellows program, and list me
me as a potential advisor.
To find out more:
Please see
-
The course notes for my Spring 2020 graduate class in
Algorithmic Genomic Biology
-
My textbook,
Computational Phylogenetics: an introduction to
designing methods for phylogeny estimation.
-
Some of my recent papers
(the parenthetical numbers refer to the
number in my online publication list):
-
Multiple Sequence Alignment: PASTA (116 and 122), UPP (126), and
MAGUS (184)
-
Ensembles of HMMs: SEPP (106), TIPP (121), UPP (126), and
HIPPI (141)
-
Phylogenomics: ASTRAL (117 and 128), ASTRID (133),
FastMulRFS
(177),
and FASTRAL (187)
-
Supertree methods: FastRFS (144) and SuperFine (105); see also
a recent unpublished
survey paper
-
Large-scale tree estimation using divide-and-conquer: DACTAL (112),
INC (159,166,167), NJMerge (162,169),
TreeMerge (168),
and GTM (bioRxiv), and see
also Chapter 11 in my textbook (which has
divide-and-conquer
methods that use chordal graph theory)